Passings: Alameda poet laureate Mary Rudge

Mary Rudge and her daughter, Diana Rudge, at a Meet the Artists reception Saturday at Alameda Museum. Photo by George Hollie.

Mary Rudge, Alameda’s longtime poet laureate, has died.

Rudge typically declined to give her age. Friends said she had suffered a string of medical problems and had been in poor health, and that she passed peacefully on Monday.

Friends described Rudge as a woman who gave tirelessly to her community, raised a family and practiced her art in the face of incredible personal obstacles, traveling the world to spread her message of peace and working locally to boost literacy and access to her chosen form of expression.

“We’ve lost a real champion in poetry,” Natica Angilly, a longtime friend, said. “I don’t think any 25 people can do the work that she has done. She tried to really give of herself, always.”